When you have school-going kids, it becomes important to figure out, natural, toxin-free, home remedies for a number of issues. From a sore throat, to insect bites, from motion sickness to sunburn… it is unreasonable to visit a doctor or use chemicals and drugs for each of these relatively minor issues. In fact, we must seriously consider what we put on our skin or in our mouth.
Chemicals, aren’t just in pesticides, they are in shampoos, moisturisers, skin creams, medicines etc. The alternative? Spices, herbs, essential oils, seeds, nuts, fruits and vegetables are a powerhouse of nutrition, antioxidants and enzymes, which are capable healing and curing us from inside out.
Lice – a scary piece of news when you find out your kid has it.
When you first find out that your child or you have lice, don’t be alarmed; it is a situation that can be controlled and treated with patience and consistency and without chemical intervention. Chances are it got passed on through another child in school or at the playground. Lice-treatment shampoos are quite harsh on the hair and expose the child to many toxins. The treatment and solution is based on first drowning the lice. Second, it deals with washing and combing out the lice and the nits. Third, you have to make sure they aren’t spreading to others in the family.
Here are some simple remedies that can be done at home with easily available ingredients.
Lice treatment oil1 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
10-12 drops of tea tree oil
Mix in a bowl. For long or thick hair, double/triple the quantity, as needed.
Apply to the scalp and the entire hair strand from root to tip. Cover the head and hair with a shower cap. Keep it on overnight and wash off the next morning, with the shampoo.
Lice treatment shampoo1 tbsp any natural, chemical-free shampoo
Five to seven drops of tea tree oil
Mix in your palm, before massaging onto your hair. Keep for three to five minutes and rinse. Dry your hair and use a lice comb to comb out the lice.
It is also important to wash all the bed linen, towels and clothes that were used before the treatment. This needs to be repeated every day for the first week and every other day later, and continued for three weeks. It is important to use the lice comb to remove all the eggs, even when the lice are gone/reduced.
Tea tree oil is an essential oil with many benefits, especially for the skin and hair. It has antiseptic, anti-fungal and infection-reducing benefits. It also has antibiotic properties, and can help with skin infections, rashes, dandruff too. The important thing to remember while using it topically is to not apply it directly, but to mix it with a carrier (coconut oil).
